The First Eddie Bauer Store

The story of the Eddie Bauer brand begins, as so many good stories do, with a daydreaming, high-school dropout and a particular obsession.

In the fall of 1913, Eddie was called into his principal’s office, but this time he wasn’t in trouble for thinking more about hunting and fishing than his studies. The principal, Mr. Whitmore, had gotten a call from Piper & Taft, Seattle’s premier sporting goods store, looking for a boy to work part-time.

Later that day, Eddie showed up at the store with Mr. Whitmore’s letter of introduction in his hand and was hired on the spot.

If Mr. Whitmore had hoped that Eddie’s work with Piper & Taft would provide an outlet for his outdoor passions while he focused on his schooling, he would have been sorely disappointed. Shortly after beginning work, Eddie dropped out of school to work full-time at the store—a decision that ended up shaping the next 50 years of his life and the future of America’s outdoor industry.

AN OUTDOOR EDUCATION

While not the most enthusiastic at school, Eddie was a voracious student of the outdoors. For a 14-year-old obsessed with outdoor adventure, working at Piper & Taft offered the best education imaginable.

In addition to carrying the latest golfing, tennis, and team sports equipment, the store had a resident gunsmith and tackle maker. As one of the largest sporting goods stores on the West Coast, it also employed some of the most accomplished hunters, fishermen, athletes, and outdoorsmen in the Seattle area.

For the next six years, Eddie apprenticed with and was mentored by the best of the best, and he soaked up every bit of outdoor knowledge he could. No less important than his education in hunting and fishing was his experience with the business of the outdoors.

During his time at Piper & Taft, Eddie learned every aspect of the outfitting business: how to make custom fishing rods and tackle, how to bore shotguns, how to make and fit gun stocks, how to craft custom golf clubs, and, importantly, how to draw in customers.

One of his first responsibilities was managing the store’s window displays. In addition to promoting the latest outdoor gear and apparel, the displays were used to showcase fish and game brought in by local fishermen and hunters. The store even offered discounts for a particularly good display, and it wasn’t long before Eddie’s own catch made a window’s centerpiece.

Eddie particularly excelled in stringing tennis rackets. He was so good that he won a national racket-stringing contest, and Piper & Taft set him up in one of their windows so customers could watch him at work. The move drew crowds, boosted the store’s tennis trade, and helped build Eddie’s reputation.

BAUER’S SPORT SHOP

After six years at Piper & Taft, Eddie was ready to strike out on his own. Though he dreamed of operating a full-service outfitter, he started out small.

Eddie’s prowess with tennis rackets was well known, and in 1920 he opened Eddie Bauer’s Tennis Shop. He couldn’t afford his own space, so instead he operated out of his friend and fellow former Piper & Taft employee, Bob Newman’s, gun shop.

Business was good, and after two years, he had saved enough from restringing and selling tennis rackets to open his own storefront. In 1922, Bauer’s Sport Shop was born.

Then in 1925, the success of Eddie’s resident fly-tier (another Piper & Taft connection, Scottish immigrant Isabel McDonald) allowed them to launch a mail-order tackle business dubbed Eddie Bauer Tackle Makers.

Over the next century, Eddie Bauer’s business would take many forms. What started out as a single desk inside a gun shop eventually became an independent sports shop, a wholesaler, a government supplier, a mail-order business, and an expedition outfitter which helped send adventure seekers to the highest peaks in the world.

Not bad for a day-dreaming dropout.